Why another Fort George Brewery flight so soon? The Astoria, Oregon, brewery just released their Beta 33.1 and a collaboration with Black Raven Brewery. Founded by brewers Jack Harris and Chris Nemlowill, the two combined their brewing expertise from previous Oregon coast gigs at Bill’s Tavern and Astoria Brewing Company to open Fort George Brewery in March 2007. Harris and Nemlowill drove their first 8.5-barrel brewhouse — nicknamed “Sweet Virginia” —from the East Coast and through a tornado to open a small pub in the Fort George Building on Duane Street in Astoria, Oregon. In 2009, they bought almost the entire city block, including the Lovell Building, where they installed a 20-barrel commercial brewhouse — “Little Miss Texas” — followed by a neighboring $12.5 million production facility. Stop by Peaks & Pints for an in-house flight of Fort George beer – a flight we’re calling Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fort George Brewery.
Peaks and Pints Beer Flight: Fort George Brewery
Fort George Consider The Fruit Punch
5.1% ABV, can
The adult version of a juice box, this bright, refreshing, tart, sweet red fruited sour is super clean on the palate with lovely effervescence. It hits the nose with a tropical fruit medley, funk, and a light tartness, followed by punchy fruit flavors of orange, passionfruit, and cherry. Expect a slightly grainy finish.
Fort George Subterranean Nectaron
5.9% ABV, bottle
This annual Fort George mixed culture saison is fermented and aged in oak puncheons beneath the bustling streets of Astoria. Subterranean Nectaron is fermented with a blend of 10 different yeast strains during a long fermentation process bolstered and balanced by bright, fresh stone fruit from a Nectaron dry hop.
Black Raven/Fort George Goldfish Tears
6% ABV, draft
What does it mean when your goldfish turns as black as a raven? Black marks suddenly appearing on your goldfish can be nothing to worry about, or they can be the sign of a serious problem such as ammonia burns or black spot disease. It could also be a natural coloration change. While you do your research sip on Black Raven Brewing’s collaboration with Fort George, Goldfish Tears. This cold IPA is brewed with Motueka, Belma, and estate-grown Comet hops, plus heaping amounts of flaked rice added to the mash, and fermented at lager temperatures for clean, herbal notes.
Fort George Blue Mouse IPA
6.7% ABV, draft
In 2021, Matt Rhodes — formerly with Stone Distributing and King Harbor Brewing out of Redondo Beach, California — left his head brewing job at Narrows Brewing in Tacoma to become the research and development brewer at Fort George Brewery. Oct. 4, 2022, Rhodes and fellow brewer Colin Rosenberger welcomed the Peaks & Pints staff to their “Sweet Virginia” 8.5-barrel brewhouse to brew Peaks’ 2022-23 house beer, appropriately named Blue Mouse IPA. In the early 1900s, John Hamrick opened the Blue Mouse Theatre for vaudeville and movies screenings in several Pacific Northwest cities, including Astoria in 1922, downtown Tacoma on Broadway in 1922, and Proctor District Tacoma in 1923, which is the only Blue Mouse still operating. Since Peaks & Pints could throw a blue mouse cat toy from our front door to the Blue Mouse Theatre in the Proctor District, we named the Simcoe, Cascade, Amarillo, and Centennial hopped IPA, Blue Mouse.
Fort George Beta 33.1
6.8% ABV, draft
If you’re friends with a geologist, you know they will occasionally give you some choice samples of porphyritic amygdaloidal basalt they discovered on a hike. Well, when you’re friends with a hop farm, it’s much the same, but with cool new hop products. Last year, Fort George made two beers to showcase exciting hops from Crosby Hop Farms, which sits in Woodburn, Oregon. This year, Fort George has a head start. Last month, Peaks & Pints tapped Beta 33, the first test batch for FOCUS, Fort George’s fall seasonal slightly hazy IPA featuring Apollo, Crosby Comet, Motueka, Strata CGX, Strata Goo, and Crosby Amarillo hops from Crosby. Today, we tap Beta 33.1. Stop by and discover what the brewery tweaked.
LINK: Peaks & Pints cooler inventory
